SCEC Art Students Create Cultural Contributors Calendar To Commemorate Centennial

The students of the St. Croix Educational Complex (SCEC) are working on a collaborative project to celebrate the upcoming Centennial Anniversary of the United States Virgin Islands called the Virgin Islands Cultural Contributors Calendar Creation and Theatrical Performance, the Department of Education has announced.

The project consists of a 12-month calendar featuring twelve selected VI Cultural Contributors accompanied by live interviews.

Visual Arts, Drama and Speech teachers Danica David and Sayeeda Carter are the directors of the project and are using students from their classes and the SCEC Art Club to bring the vision to life.

From left to right: Danica David and Sayeeda Carter.

Art Club students will use photographs of selected participants to create mixed media portrait paintings for the calendar’s graphics. Simultaneously, Ms. Carter’s Drama and Speech students will conduct interviews of the participants that will be used to create a brief write-up to go along with the graphics.

The calendar’s Cultural Contributors are selected on the basis that he or she is a native of the Virgin Islands or have been a resident for 15 years or more; is an active contributor to the development of Virgin Islands’ culture through fine arts, education, literature, and history in the past or present; and is currently living in the territory.

To culminate the students’ hard work and formally present the finished project, the group will host a reception that will feature an art exhibition and theatrical performances embracing culture and honoring the contributors. The event will take place at the Educational Complex in January and calendars will be available at the school in December for $12 each.

The educator duo, Ms. David and Ms. Carter, developed the project so Virgin Islands’ students could learn about the individuals in their community that aid in the advancement of local culture. The calendar is expected to be produced annually.

The project is sponsored by Rotary of St. Croix, Mid Isle and the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands.

Feature Image: Danica David, art teacher and Ms. Sayeeda Carter, speech and drama teacher at SCEC.